As the muddy trails harden, mountain biking season is kicking off.
In Vermont, where mountain biking has exploded in popularity, people have more opportunities than ever to get into the sport.
“The growth of the sport has been exponential in the past — call it five years,” said Mark Harris, a Woodstock Area Mountain Bike Association board member. “It’s really hard for us to quantify what’s happening, but you can feel it.”
The association, known as WAMBA, operates three separate trail networks in the Woodstock area, managing more than 30 miles of trails, according to Harris. Since 2016, the organization has evolved from an all-volunteer operation into a paid trail crew program with two builders working about full time during the peak season. This year, WAMBA hopes to reach 500 paying members, he said.
WAMBA is one of 29 chapters that are part of the Vermont Mountain Biking Association. The nonprofit, often shortened to VMBA, provides statewide advocacy and additional resources to the local chapters.
“The model we’re really trying to establish is community-supported stewardship,” said Nick Bennette, the state association’s executive director. With more resources than the local chapters, VMBA works to help each smaller community support its vision.
In many of the last five years, VMBA has posted double-digit growth in membership, according to Bennette. Riders select a primary chapter, typically where people bike the most, and their dues support that individual chapter. But members also have the opportunity to select “add-on chapters,” thus supporting different trail networks that they might ride less often.
More beginner terrain and more comfortable equipment has helped introduce young people to the sport, Bennette explained, citing a study by the University of Vermont that estimated 50,000 Vermonters mountain bike at least once a week during the season.
“It’s meant more support and visibility for mountain biking,” Bennett said. But the growth has also made stewardship and maintenance more complicated.
More bikes on trails add wear and tear. So do intense weather events, which can wash out trails. As much as possible, local chapters are focusing on “upgrading, modifying and adapting” existing trails, rather than building new ones, Bennette said. That approach creates better-lasting trails and increases accessibility for adaptive bikes — those specially made for people with disabilities, according to Bennette.
More bikers can also mean more noise, traffic and trash. “In Vermont, 70% of our public access trails are on private land, which is completely different than in other parts of the country,” Bennette said. Local chapters work to maintain good relationships with the property owners who allow access to their land. VMBA is also involved in legislative advocacy work that could incentivize more people to make their land accessible to recreation, Bennette said.
Counterpart to skiing
Some ski areas have invested heavily in mountain biking operations, a natural warm-weather counterpart to skiing.
“We don’t really have an offseason at Killington like we used to,” said Amy Laramie, director of brand marketing, events and special projects at Killington Resort. According to Laramie, last year the resort surpassed 50,000 mountain bike visits for the first time, and the sport is now the resort’s “main focus” during the summer.
Although mountain biking has existed at Killington for 30 years, Laramie said, the resort long lacked beginner terrain. In 2016 and 2017, as the mountain began offering trails off three lifts rather than just one, “we saw a really large jump in mountain biking visits,” Laramie said. Since then, the growth has only continued.
The popularity of mountain biking has spilled over into the town of Killington as a whole, according to Laramie. Restaurants in town once shuttered for the warmer months, but expanded outdoor opportunities have kept Killington bustling year round. With more beginner terrain, hundreds of rental bikes and instructional programs for those just entering the sport, the mountain is prioritizing getting more people involved in biking.
The growing sport means new community organizations and new trails. This spring, the Jamaica Area Mountain Bike Alliance — JAMBA — celebrated its first half-mile of trail.
Jason Rickles, who serves on the VMBA board as a representative of the Jamaica chapter, has been mountain biking since the 1980s. What once was a primarily “bro-y” culture has become far more diverse, he said. “The youth movement is really starting to pick up.”
Rickles, a teacher at Green Mountain Union High School in Chester, has gotten some of his students involved in mountain bike racing. Each year, a small but close-knit group competes, he said.
“The sport has become a lot more inclusive. It still has a long way to go, and that’s a major component of VMBA’s mission,” Rickles said.
But some things about mountain biking won’t change. Even as more people have gotten on bikes, Rickles said, they all celebrate “the spirit of challenge and all-day adventure that the sport has always had.”
Correction: A previous version of this story mischaracterized the lifts used for mountain biking at Killington.